With the COVID-19 pandemic still in swing, people have lost income and wages. However, this doesn’t mean that every market has crashed, and people aren’t spending money. They are just prioritizing what they’re spending their money on. Where you spend your money and how much you spend is especially important when you don’t have as much money coming in as normal.
What Are The Consumer Spending Patterns?
In August of this year, studies showed that most people spend more on groceries, furniture, and online shopping. All these trends make sense because more and more people are trying to save money and cook at home rather than eating at restaurants.
More people are spending money on furniture and home décor because they are spending more time in their homes as they work online instead of going to the office. Online shopping has also peaked in the last few years because people are choosing to buy everything from the comfort of their home on their computers rather than venturing out into stores.
Which Types Of Places Increased?
Sales from restaurants and bars stayed steady, not decreasing, or increasing. They increased for a few months right after lockdowns ended as people were itching to go out and see friends. However, with the spikes in current cases, more and more are choosing to stay indoors as much as possible.
Sales from online stores rose 5.3%, furniture sales went up by about 3.7% and grocery stores went up 2.1%. Department sales went up 2.4%.
Which Types Of Places Decreased?
The major decline in sales has been in cars and vehicle repair shops. There has been a massive shortage of parts for cars and people are finding that they can’t the parts they need to fix their cars or buy new parts for their cars.
Overall, though, spending is up because people are excited to be out and finally have a chance to get out of the house. The economy is slowly returning back to normal after more than a year of it lagging due to lockdowns and people suffering from lost wages.
Overall Consumer Spending Trends
Consumer spending is still the largest contributor to the economy though and that doesn’t seem to be falling behind at all.
Before the pandemic, people spent more money on travel, transportation, and restaurants and bars. With the lockdowns and fear of the virus, these industries have taken a large hit. Grocery stores though and online shopping outlets have not seen a decrease in sales. They have continued to see a sharp increase because people have found they still need to get food and cook at home.
Online services have also seen a sharp increase because people are trying to buy all the goods they can online to avoid going into stores.
Although restaurants and bars have seen a large decrease in sales, there is hope they will increase as more and more people get vaccinated. People are beginning to feel more comfortable going out which will hopefully mean bars and places to eat will see a sharp increase in sales soon.
